


The Trials of Jasper

by gakorogirl (orphan_account)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-05-10 02:06:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5564872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/gakorogirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>~THIS FIC IS NO LONGER UPDATING~</p><p>Homeworld cares about one thing- strength. It doesn't matter if you're a tactical genius or a brute warrior, strength in something is what matters. And if you can't deliver, Homeworld doesn't give a damn about you.</p><p>JAS-6419 is the best Gem in her Training Facility, but she wasn't expecting to be recruited by Yellow Diamond herself to be whisked away to fight in a war on some frontier planet in the Crystal System.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Steven Universe fic! Maybe leave kudos or a review~
> 
> Being a prologue, this chapter is a bit shorter than you can expect chapters to be in the future. Jasper has potential to be a really interesting character, it's too bad we haven't seen much of her in the show. Anyway, enjoy!

“JAS-6419,” said Yellow Diamond, her golden eyes sharp. “What are the statistics for that Gem?” Her companion rapidly pulled up a set of files on the holographic screen that hovered in front of them. Larimar was a thin Gem with round eyes and mottled pale blue skin, and she lived in constant fear of being found defective by the Diamond Authority. This anxiety was especially strong today, in close proximity to the Yellow, and her long fingers fumbled a little in the air.

“Get to it, Larimar,” sighed the taller Gem.

“Oh- yes, sorry, sorry Commander Yellow Diamond,” Larimar said quickly. A file appeared on the hologram and began to scroll slowly for both Gems to read.

“As you can see,” said Larimar (a little more confident now, with a file in front of her and the hologram working smoothly) “JAS-6419 is from our Kindergarden on Sliri Seven- of course, that Kindergarden is cycled out now, the last few batches of Jaspers took too much of a toll on the mineral makeup of the planet.” She tapped the hologram and pulled up a picture of a broad-shouldered Gem with orange skin.

“Even JAS-6419’s batch had some slight irregularities that manifested themselves in jagged streaks of discolored skin, as well as some difficulties in receding into their Gems.”

“Was the reforming process affected?” asked Yellow Diamond as she leaned forwards to look at the picture.

“Not that we can tell, no. But where most Gems would recede immediately upon taking a moderate amount of physical damage, these Jaspers require quite a beating before their physical manifestations automatically diffuse.”

“So 6419, she’s the best in her division?”   
“That’s correct, Commander. She’s passed her preliminary tests with flying colors, and despite the problem we found with receding into her Gem she was able to make a new manifestation within an hour- with no stability issues detected. Her combat skills are certainly adequate for any situation, although she is  _ slightly  _ lacking in respect.”

“Bring her in,” Yellow Diamond said with a wave of her hand. “Once I assess her, we’ll put her on the first shuttle to Earth.”

 

…

 

“JAS-6419 please report to the Evaluation Room, JAS-6419,” said a calm voice over the loudspeaker. The Jasper figured it was probably a Pearl, they tended to have those clipped, monotone voices. But she didn’t know anyone with a Pearl at this training facility… maybe it was a visit from the Diamond Authority!   
_ Am I in trouble?  _ The  Jasper wondered as she dissolved her helmet and adjusted the clothes of her manifestation to something more formal. This was awfully short notice for a visit from one of the Authorities, or even any other high-ranking Gem. With a small scowl, Jasper changed her loose blouse into a tighter-fitting black shirt with flowing sleeves. She decided to leave her pants plain- although she did have a tear in her left knee. A brief moment of focus was all that was needed to fix the tear and add a slight iridescent sheen to the material.

“JAS-6419 report to the Evaluation Room,” said the Pearl voice on the loudspeaker.

“I’m  _ coming!”  _ Jasper shouted with a brief flicker of irritation, and began to jog. She crossed the courtyard, tiled with an array of multicolored stone slabs, and knocked sharply on the door to the Evaluation Room.

The doors slid open with a soft hiss, and a champagne Pearl with short-cropped golden ringlets blinked up at Jasper. “JAS-6419?”

“That’s me,” said Jasper gruffly. She’d seen this Pearl before somewhere, a tall, thin Gem with a flowing golden skirt and eyes so pale they were almost white. There weren’t  _ many  _ Pearls, and while they were all slender, with massive eyes and pointed noses, owners tended to order models that would be unique. Jasper figured that she  _ should  _ be able to place this one- and then it hit her.

“You’re Yellow Diamond’s Pearl!”

“That’s right,” the Pearl answered with a single slow blink of its odd, iridescent eyes. “Now, right this way.” As the champagne Pearl turned around, Jasper tried to fight down a knot of nervousness rising up into her throat. She ducked slightly to avoid scraping her head against the threshold of the door and followed the Pearl into the Evaluation Room.

She turned her eyes downwards as was proper-  _don't look directly at the Diamond until told to do so,_ echoed the voice of her diplomacy instructor in her head- but an icy, ringing voice said,

"Look at me, JAS-6419."

Jasper, JAS-6419, looked up into the hawklike golden eyes of Yellow Diamond.


	2. Preliminaries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You never, ever question a member of the Diamond Authority. It doesn't matter what they tell you to do- you do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's left kudos so far! Sorry this chapter took a while~

“Remember, the word of the Diamond Authorities is law,” said the sinewy Chalcedony commander with a scowl. The row of Gem warriors before her nodded gravely.

“Doesn’t matter what the Authorities tell you to do, don’t question it. Just follow orders- they know best. They  _ always  _ know best.”

_ How could anyone  _ always  _ know best?  _ wondered JAS-6419, but she stayed silent as the Chalcedony continued to lecture. From the narrowing eyes and thoughtful scowls echoing up and down the line, the Jasper could tell that the rest of her batch was equally unconvinced.

“You don’t think  _ anyone  _ could be right all the time, do you?” the Chalcedony asked suddenly with a snap in her voice. “Well, you’d be right.  _ But,”  _ she said with a cold emphasis, “It’s not your place to question the commands of the Diamonds. No matter what, you do as you’re told.”

In unison, the row of Jaspers nodded. 

“Good to know I got something through your thick heads,” said the Chalcedony as she narrowed her opalescent eyes. Straightening up, she flashed a quick, fanged smile. “We’re going to do another set of drills in five klicks. Report to the main hall immediately.”

…

Jasper had never liked that insufferable Chalcedony, but it was her voice that came to mind now. 

“Again,” snapped out Yellow Diamond, her eyes sharp. Jasper gritted her teeth and began the combat sequence again, raining a hail of kicks and punches onto the training dummy that would have forced it to retreat into its gem if it had had one. She had done the sequence nine times so far, and each time Yellow Diamond’s command rang out once more. As she finished the sequence with a leaping double kick, Jasper’s chest was heaving and her legs shook slightly. It was a complicated, exhausting series of attacks meant to be done more than once or twice, and Jasper wasn’t certain how much longer she could keep this up _. _

_ No matter what, your job is to obey the Diamonds,  _ the Chalcedony would snarl at the slightest provocation (usually followed by,  _ and if you can’t even obey  _ me,  _ how do you expect to get anywhere?)  _ Jasper was seriously considering questioning Yellow Diamond’s orders as she launched into her tenth repetition, vision starting to blur. 

“All right,” said Yellow Diamond from the platform where she had been watching, “You can stop now.”

Jasper landed in a crouch and sighed with relief. 

She had a full five seconds to relax before Yellow Diamond announced, “We’re going to start the next part of the evaluation now.” 

Standing up, Jasper answered quickly, “Yes ma’am!”

Suddenly, Yellow Diamond’s Pearl lept into the training ring, no longer wearing the long, ruffled golden skirt. Now, its outfit was sleeker and more streamlined, with the signature mark of Yellow Diamond embossed on the front.

Jasper took a step back, confused.

“What are you waiting for? Fight her!” 

Narrowing her eyes, Jasper leapt towards the Pearl, swinging a roundhouse punch towards it. The Pearl leapt out of the way and landed on its feet, drawing a slender blade. Jasper noticed with some interest that it hadn’t  _ summoned  _ the weapon from its gem- perhaps Pearls couldn’t do that. She didn’t have much time to wonder, because the Pearl charged her and Jasper was forced to begin backing down from the swipes of the narrow, deadly blade. She hadn’t known that Pearls were quite this  _ fast. _

Jasper would need to think of a new plan of attack. She gritted her teeth and ran  _ forwards,  _ sidestepping a stab from the Pearl’s sword, and grabbed the thin Gem in one hand, pinning down its arms. The Pearl seemed completely unconcerned, and looked up at Yellow Diamond with its large, reflective eyes.

“What are you waiting for?” asked Yellow Diamond from the balcony. With a flicker of satisfaction, Jasper noticed that she  _ finally  _ seemed interested, leaning slightly over the edge of the railing. 

“You told me to fight her, not poof her,” said Jasper, not realizing until too late that she probably should have used the official term rather than the military-slang  _ poof. _

“Go ahead and do it,” said Yellow Diamond. The Pearl continued to look calm even as Jasper tightened her grip, feeling thin limbs crushing together. Suddenly, the physical manifestation of the Pearl vanished, covering Jasper in a cloud of glittering smoke. She reached out and caught the gem as it fell towards the ground.

As the smoke cleared away, Jasper saw that Yellow Diamond was smiling, satisfied.

“Good work, soldier.”

“Thank you,” said Jasper, straightening to attention.

“You’ll be reporting to Docking Bay 818 in an hour and boarding a transport to the Crystal System. There’s a rebellion going on there- nothing to threaten Homeworld as yet, but it’s our job to make sure it never becomes a threat.”

Jasper noded sharply and bowed again. The Crystal System… a new Gem outpost in a far arm of the galaxy. The passage there would take at least a month.

“For the honor of the Diamond Authority,” she said, and left the room to gather her few possessions.


	3. Planetrise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Earthrise from the Moon Base is a sight to see, and Jasper thinks that maybe she could stay here for a while. Of course, it won't be suitable for Gems until the colonization is finished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned from my hiatus of many months! I'm going to try and start integrating this with the information we learned during the previous Stevenbomb :)

"It doesn't matter where the Authority sends you," barked the Chalcedony commander, and her pale skin glimmered under the light of the moons as she pointed at the row of Jaspers standing in front of her. "No matter where they assign you, you stay there and you don't complain!"

The row of warriors nodded as one, although discontented frowns flickered over a few of their craggy faces. It was not many lunar spins into their training, but they had learned that the lean, milky-eyed Chalcedony with the loud voice and square chin was to be obeyed instantly. Disobedience meant poofing, and perhaps even having their gems crushed for minerals (in the case of the weaker members of the batch.)

But afterwards, so far afterwards that it was closer to the time JAS-6419 set off for Crystal System Planet 4, "Earth," than to the time when the Chalcedony had lectured a line of Jasper warriors, a round-faced Azurite spoke to the warriors of JAS-6419's batch.

She was a guest speaker from the court of Blue Diamond, come to preach of the wonders of the constellations and the glories of the Gem Empire, and her voice was soft and thick like honey.

"In every corner of the galaxy, there is beauty fit for the Gem Empire," said Azurite, and her silken veil rippled against her deep blue skin as she summoned a hologram in front of her. "Of course, in many of these places there are vermin, pesky organic lifeforms fit only for decomposition, but when that little problem is cleared away, and our architects are allowed to work-" she swept a delicate hand- "Even the most chaotic and savage of planets may be elevated to a state of beauty."

The hologram in front of Azurite showed a dense world with tall, intertwined trees, glowing eyes peering out from the darkness as raindrops dripped down shadowy, clinging vines. Another wave of her hand, and the primitive forest was replaced with great gardens, sparkling in the sunlight as slender towers rose overhead. The glowing forms of many Gems walked on curving paths through the gardens, with barely a trace of the dripping, dark jungle that had previously covered the planet.

"Barren places, too, can be made beautiful by the grace of the Diamond Authority and the resources of the Empire," Azurite continued, and with another wave of her hands, she summoned an image of the asteroid field that Yellow Diamond used as her primary fortress. Glass pyramids glittered in the starlight, and coils of nebula snaked through the sky. Quick, nimble Gem ships darted between the pyramids and towers.

Azurite had stepped off of the stage with a bow, and the rows of Jaspers and Amethysts and Smokeys had applauded.

* * *

 

JAS-6419 remembered Azurite's words as she opened the doors to the Lunar Base and stepped out onto the dusty grey rock. 

"Hey!" someone shouted from inside. "Close the door!" 

Turning to close the door, JAS-6419 thought she saw a glimpse of Yellow Diamond's champagne Pearl hurrying through the main hall, with another thin, pointy Pearl by her side. The doors slid shut, and JAS-6419 stretched her arms above her head as she smelled the thin atmosphere of this planetoid. On the horizon, Earth was beginning to rise.

JAS-6419 whistled under her breath as she looked at the curve of the planet. It wasn't so large, no, not as large as most of the other Gem-occupied planets, but from here it had lovely colors. Swirls of blue and green, perhaps oceans of some kind? She had heard this planet was watery, and that many of the oceans would be allowed to remain in the final design. Jasper liked that- she could picture it now, tall towers over a glimmering salt sea. Blue Diamond was known to be especially fond of liquids and their aesthetics, that must be the reason for not draining all of the oceans.

She nodded slowly, taking another moment to enjoy the view. Once the war was won and the Authority could get their plans back online, this would be a beautiful world.


	4. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The war council of Yellow Diamond convenes, and JAS-6419 meets the Larimar.

They had practiced strategy in their training, long weeks of trekking through a primeval, planetwide forest with limited resources and limited troops, hours spent poring over simulated solar systems and carefully moving fleets of ships between planets and black holes. JAS-6419 had always been at the top of her class, second only to a much smaller Jasper from the same batch whose skin was streaked more red than orange.

She had enjoyed the feeling of power as she gave orders to the fleets of tiny, crystalline drones meant to represent field troops in a mock battle. She had memorized the configurations of a hundred systems and the best methods of attack on gas giants, rocky worlds, moons, ringed planets, and asteroids. She had studied the fighting styles of each type of warrior Gem, and learned how best to use her formidable size and strength.

And that was why, perhaps, Yellow Diamond's emblem had blinked on JAS-6419's holopad, summoning her to the war room. JAS-6419 took a moment to process- a  _personal_ invitation, or close to personal, from the Diamond! She blinked, focusing hard, and shifted her military uniform to a set of deep red and brown robes that flowed from her broad shoulders nearly to the floor. Of course, she kept the black stripes and butter-yellow diamond that marked her rank and allegiance.

 

"JAS-6419?" asked a voice as the doors to the war room slid open. JAS-6419 looked at the source and saw a thin Larimar with round, nervous eyes, looking at a holopad in her hands.

"That's me," JAS-6419 answered, saluting. "JAS-6419, Facet-271, Briolette-13."

Larimar nodded. "Yellow Diamond isn't here yet, so I would just wait here if I were you," she said. After a moment of awkward silence, she said politely, "I don't know that I've seen many Briolette cut gems, I'm a simple O-13 myself."

"Oh," shrugged Jasper, awkwardly running a hand through her thick white hair, "I think it was an experimental cut or something. They said it had something to do with more efficient fusion. I'm meant to fuse with Trillion line and O-1543 Jaspers."

"How interesting," said Larimar. "There's only two other Jaspers here on the Earth mission, maybe they're meant to fuse with you?" JAS-6419 noticed that the slender blue gem had relaxed and was looking at her with genuine interest in her large grey eyes.

"Maybe, but I'm really not big on fusion-" JAS-6419 started, when a gong rang out from the top of the room and she looked up. Larimar gasped and turned away, frantically scrolling through her holopad in an attempt to look busy. 

At the balcony at the far end of the room, Yellow Diamond stepped out, her military uniform accented with a flared yellow coat. A Pearl stood on either side of her, one the champagne Pearl with the flowing skirts and the other a frowning Pearl with hair that echoed the Diamond's. JAS-6419 and the other Gems walking through the room froze, their eyes on the balcony, and sank into a deep bow as one.

Yellow Diamond clapped her hands. "Up, soldiers!" her voice rang out. There was a brief moment of hesitation, and JAS-6419 was the first to straighten up and give a brisk, military salute. Following her lead, the other warriors straightened as well, looking to Yellow Diamond for instructions.

"We leave at the next planetrise," said the matriarch. "Golden, the schematics."

The Pearl with the hair that matched Yellow Diamond's projected a shimmering schematic of the Earth into the middle of the war room. JAS-6419 looked over it carefully, making a mental note of the structures that had already been established on the planet's surface.

"Our intelligence, as gathered by Blue Diamond's forces before they pulled out, states that the rebels are on this continent," Yellow Diamond continued, and the holomap zoomed in on one of the landmasses on the planet's surface. "The Sky Arena will be our touchdown point, and from there we survey the landmass until we find the rebellion. When we find them, they will be-" her golden eyes narrowed into a frown- " _eradicated."_

She curled a lip and then clapped her hands again, and Golden removed the projection. Yellow Diamond leaned over the railing. "Any questions?"

A thin Aventurine with close-cropped hair and green skin raised a hand. "Will work on the planet resume after the rebellion is suppressed?" she asked. "I've been looking at the proposed building plan, and it's very impressive."

Yellow Diamond nodded slowly. "If the planet still contains sufficient resources after the rebellion is crushed, control will return to Blue Diamond and the work on the planet will commence as planned."

 _If the planet contains sufficient resources?_ JAS-6419 wondered.  _How long does she think this war will last?_


	5. Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JAS-6419 wasn't strong enough, or maybe she was too strong. And now she's in a graveyard that used to be a battlefield, and nobody cares enough to come for her- or do they?

_JAS-6419 was alone. She stood surrounded by loose gems, glittering in the dark mineral-rich earth of this planet's soil. Her physical form was in tatters, beginning to turn to light around the edges of the deep wounds that scarred it, and she dropped to her knees._

_They had had the advantage, twenty warriors against five, but the Crystal Gems had surprised them, lured them into the ruins of the abandoned Kindergarden and attacked from above. Before JASPER realized what had happened, six of their warriors had been poofed, and they were face to face with Rose Quartz's renegade Pearl. They had summoned their weapons- a helmet and an axe, gleaming orange in the moonlight (is Yellow Diamond back on the moon base watching us? they wondered as they spared a brief glance at the sky) and they had charged._

And the Pearl had leaped into the air, arching over their head and jumping off the crystalline helmet, and they had turned to face a blade that flashed like heat lightning in the clouds of a gas giant. Three times the blade struck in the time it took for JASPER to bring up their axe. 

And then JAS-6419 was on her feet, alone. JAS-6444's gem, the eye, was splintered into deep red shards, and JAS-5987's gem, which had been on the JASPER fusion's forehead, had a deep crack running through the center. JAS-6419 lunged forwards for the cracked gem, but the Pearl's sword flashed faster than she could move and shattered JAS-5987.

"You'll pay for that!" JAS-6419 had snarled, but the Pearl had made no reply. An Obsidian, whirling a spike-studded flail, charged towards them with a fearsome battle cry, and the Pearl's attention was diverted towards the Obsidian. And JAS-6419 struggled to her feet and summoned her helmet, feeling it heavy and comforting against her head. 

But then there was a shout, and the battlefield stood still.

_Rose Quartz._

"This world is under my protection," her voice rang out, and JAS-6419 looked up at the towering rebel leader. A shining pink sword and shield in her hands, clothed in rippling layers of white silk, and her eyes dark and hard as stone. "If you continue your attack, I will have no choice but to defend it."

Time stood frozen, and then one of the surviving Aventurines ran towards Rose Quartz, her scimitar twirling. And the spell was broken, and the battlefield erupted once more into chaos. JAS-6419 let herself immerse in the clash of weapons, the thrill of combat, hardly noticing the wounds torn open on her arms and the tatters of her uniform- until suddenly, all was quiet. She looked around, standing in a graveyard of cracked gems and glittering dust. Rose Quartz stood at the far end of the canyon, alone.

And her voice rang out to JAS-6419. "Take this as a warning," she said coldly. "Tell Yellow Diamond I will not stand for the destruction of this world." 

With a puff of rose petals, she was gone, and JAS-6419 was left blinking in the light of the rising sun. Her physical form ached and burned, and she tried to retreat into her gem- but she couldn't. Instead, she fell onto her back, her physical form flickering.

 _I failed,_ she thought miserably. But surely someone would come soon, to gather up the gems that could be salvaged and to dispose of the fragments that had been crushed? She waited a day, slowly growing weaker and weaker, and when she could see the stars again JAS-6419 knew that nobody would come. She considered trying to force herself back into her gem, to pick up one of the abandoned weapons and force it through her chest. But she was too weak to move.

 

 

And then, somebody came.

* * *

 

 

"Jasper?" asked a soft voice above her, and JAS-6419 opened her eyes to see Larimar's worried face over her. "You're cracked!" exclaimed the slender Gem.

"Am...I?" JAS-6419 mumbled. She feebly raised a hand to brush against her gem, feeling a miniscule fracture across the narrow end of the gem. "That would explain it," she muttered quietly. 

Larimar reached out, then drew her hand back. "You were the only survivor of the battle," she said quietly. "We salvaged three cracked Gems that can be healed, but the rest are crushed. Yellow Diamond didn't want to send a salvage mission at all, but I picked up your life signal and she didn't have much of a choice. It's bad for morale to abandon soldiers."

JAS-6419 shook her head, then winced at the pain that ran through her gem. "I can't get into my gem," she groaned. "I don't know why." Larimar nodded slowly, then pulled up a file on her holopad.

"Your whole batch has the same problem. If JAS-6444 hadn't been shattered, she would have had the same problem." She frowned. "Still, we need to get you back to the outpost somehow," she said, looking around. "Here!"

Larimar picked up an energy crossbow nearly half her size and JAS-6419 nodded slowly. "You're going to shoot me," she said. "That's a good plan."

"Hopefully it doesn't hurt too much," said Larimar as she aimed the crossbow towards JAS-6419's chest. "I'm going to aim it towards your lower torso, that way there's no danger of further damaging your gem. Okay- ready-"

She fired, and the world turned to golden light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love reviews <3
> 
> Also, since JAS-6419 is now the only Jasper on the Earth Mission, we'll notice in the next chapter that Gems besides Larimar start to refer to her simply as "Jasper."


	6. Promotion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A promotion for JAS-6419, and the start of an even more dangerous adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Since finals are done, I'll be trying to get back to a more regular posting schedule over the summer.

“Jasper?” asked a small voice. Jasper couldn’t move. She couldn’t see, and everything was a soft red-golden light. But she could hear, and she could hear Larimar’s voice, talking from far away. Jasper steeled her will and surged back into the world, blinking as flecks of light cleared from her eyes.

“Larimar!”

“Jasper, you’ve got a promotion!” gasped the silvery Gem, holding a holopad in front of Jasper. Frowning, Jasper took it and scrolled through the message, the small piece of technology dwarfed by her massive hands. She could see that when she regenerated, her skin had changed its pattern of red and orange streaks- there was more red at the tips of her fingers now, and it seemed darker. Like rust, or dried organic blood. (Jasper rather liked it, actually. She wondered if the rest of her body had changed the same way.

“A promotion? Why?”

“Yellow Diamond didn’t specify, actually. But it must be something you did, it’s very rare to get a promotion so early in your field service. Maybe she recovered the records from the battle and realized that you were worth promoting after all,” said Larimar.

 

_ JAS-6419, Facet-271, Briolette-13, _

_ You have been chosen for promotion to Commander, by order of Yellow Diamond. You will be relocated after three cycles of the planet’s star, and placed in charge of a trained task force consisting of four other Gem warriors. Your mission is to attack the fortress of the Crystal Gems with a direct assault. More details will be forthcoming. _

 

“It’s a suicide mission,” said Jasper, handing the pad back to Larimar. She looked around, sighing deeply. She was in a cave, lit by glowing bubbles, and in cubbies throughout the cave were Gems. Some were cracked, and thin-fingered Rhodochrosites were tending to them. 

_ Interesting,  _ thought Jasper. With this many wounded Gems, she would have thought that Yellow Diamond would have sent in at least one more experienced healer, rather than the healer/fighter hybrid Rhodies.

As she thought, one of the Rhodochrosite healers came up, her eyes sharp and burgundy in her dark pink, angular face. “Feeling better, soldier?”

“It’s Commander now, apparently,” said Jasper.

“Oh, heard all about that. Yellow Diamond’s favorite game, sending soldier’s she’s displeased with to go and fight the Crystals on their home turf.”

Larimar frowned, baring a row of sharp silver-blue teeth. “Watch your tounge, Rhodochrosite,” she said warningly. “A statement like that could well be percieved as-”

“As what,  _ treason?”  _ asked the Rhodie, stepping forwards. She loomed almost a full head taller than Larimar, and the smaller gem stepped back without making eye contact. “You aren’t one of Yellow’s soldiers, Lari. You’re only here as a representative of Blue’s troopers. And me and the other Rhodies, we aren’t under Yellow’s control either. By all rights, we should be out-”

“RHO-87-122, Facet-199,” rang out a commanding voice, and the hospital cave fell silent as every gem turned to the entrance. Standing side by side with black and white hair cascading down their backs stood two broad-shouldered Smokey Quartzes.

“I didn’t mean it,” whispered the Rhodochrosite, shrinking back against Jasper. Jasper frowned and shook her off, pushing her slightly towards the Quartzes.

One of the pair stepped forwards in a few quick strides, bending her head slightly so as not to scrape it on the stalactites hanging from the arched roof. The Rhodochrosite lunged to the side, rolling under the Quartz’s outstretched arm, and bolted for the entrance. She never made it.

The other Smokey Quartz snapped her fingers, and a silver-bladed sword materialized from the air and drove itself into the Rhodochrosite’s chest. Larimar gasped, and Jasper moved to put a protective hand on her shoulder.

“Sorry to bother you, Commander,” said the closer of the two Quartzes, a note of apology in her voice, and Jasper nodded, her thoughts far away. If the Rhodies could be disloyal to the Diamond Authority, what other gems might be? Or perhaps only that one Rhodie- but no, she had seen the hope in the faces of the others before RHO-87-122 was struck down. Jasper resolved never to be treated by Rhodochrosites again, not so long as she could help it.


End file.
